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Soccer: Heritage Sweeps Northside

Rogers Heritage had one real chance in the second half against Northside on Wednesday.

The Banuelos brothers made it count.

Christian Banuelos first-timed a cross from his brother, Brian, in the 73rd minute and the War Eagles defense did enough to hold off Northside, 1-0, in a nonconference soccer match at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.

Northside (5-1) dominated most of the game before a momentary lapse in the middle left Christian Banuelos unmarked. Brian Banuelos sent a low cross through the box and Banuelos caught Northside goalkeeper Eric Hernandez wrong-footed as he sent it into the lower left corner of the goal.

It was the first goal the Grizzlies have allowed this season.

“In soccer, a lot of the times you see games where you actually dominate but you come up empty at the end,” Northside coach Mauricio Maciel said. “They had a couple of chances, but I felt we had more than they did. They capitalized and sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

The Grizzlies had a final chance to draw when they sent a free kick from the right touchline into the area, but the attempted header went over the bar for a goal kick.

Heritage (1-0) coach Craig Frank knew his team was a bit fortunate against Northside.

“We were waiting for an opportunity and they finally gave us one,” Frank said. “They hit the crossbar and they shot some a couple feet high, a couple feet wide. This was anybody’s game.”

Northside put 14 shots on goal and that doesn’t include the several that went inches wide or high.

The best of those came with just seconds left in the first half when Sergio Martinez sent a blast from six yards that pelted the bottom of the crossbar and careened hard into the red turf in front of the keeper. It had too much backspin and bounced back outside the danger area and Northside ran out of time in the first half.

First-year coach Maciel, who spent the previous 11 seasons at Southside, anticipates Wednesday’s result was a simple bump in what should be a solid season.

“I think when they watch the video tomorrow they will see that we are playing good soccer,” Maciel said. “If we continue to do that and give ourselves opportunities, we will win a lot of games.”

Rogers Heritage 4, Northside 0

GIRLS – Northside keeper Jami Hardbarger did all she could to keep Northside in the game. And for a half, it worked.

But Ellen Lundy and the rest of last year’s 7A semifinalist Heritage team had too much.

Lundy netted her first in the 35th minute. A short Northside goal kick hit square off the knees of Emily Seiler and into a clear path for Lundy. She took three steps and fired a shot from 13 yards past Hardbarger into the net.

It was the only goal Heritage (2-0-1) would need, but it was also a step in the right direction for a young Northside team.

“One goal, we got out of place one time and they took advantage of it,” Northside coach Ashley Lemley said. “We have to do that to them. I think we only got three shots on goal and we’ve got to have more than that.”

Hardbarger made 17 saves, including a stunning diving effort in the first half that kept Northside (4-1) within striking distance. Heritage had a superb chance in the 24th minute when Emily Seiler sent a curling strike from the right side toward the top left corner from about 25 yards. Harbarger made an acrobatic dive to her right and managed to get her fingertips on it enough to force a Heritage corner.

“Our keeper made a lot of good saves. Some really great saves,” Lemley said. “This loss hurt for her because she worked so hard.”

Lundy’s second goal came in the 47th minute when she took a soft touch inside the box to lose a Northside defender and tucked one in from the right side with enough power to deflect off Hardbarger and into creep over the line.

It opened the gates as the Lady War Eagles sent another 12 shots on net the rest of the match. Northside finished with three shots on goal.

“Last year we came within one game of going to the state championship, so expectations, if I wouldn’t say all the way, I’m the wrong person for the job,” Heritage coach Craig Frank said.

The Lady Bears next game is tonight at 6:30 p.m. against Fayetteville. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved up because of the girls basketball team’s state championship game against Southside that same day.